NFPA report: firefighter injuries down eight percent from 2009

Firefighters suffered 71,875 injuries in the line of duty last year, an eight percent decrease from 2009 and a two-decade low, according to the new NFPA report “U.S. Firefighter Injuries”. The report takes a look at the number of 2010 firefighter injuries, injuries by type of duty, exposures to infectious diseases, and how a community’s size affects the number of injuries within a fire department.

Key findings from the report:

An estimated 15,000 injuries, or 20.8 percent of all firefighter injuries, resulted in lost time from work in 2010.

In addition to injuries, there were 11,200 exposures to infectious diseases and 25,700 exposures to hazardous conditions.

The Northeast reported a higher number of fire ground injuries per 100 fires (sustained from structure fires, vehicle fires, and brush fires) than other regions of the country.

Almost half (45 percent) of all firefighter injuries occurred during fire ground operations. An estimated 13,355 occurred at non-fire emergencies, 4,380 while responding to or returning from an incident, 7,275 during training activities, and 14,190 during other on-duty activities.